Humans
Humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) are a hominid species hailing from the planet Earth . They are are a physically standard race but have known their share of war, peace, and technological advanced. There have been many species of Human in the genus 'Homo'; the latest and current genus is 'Homo sapiens sapiens', meaning 'wiser man'. Humans though have been in existence for roughly 2 million years. They have gained fame and noteriety for defying the Covenant and surviving in 2553. They are known as a Jack of All Trades race, being good at many things, but not being superior in any given role. History Prehistory Humanity evolved on the planet of Earth approximately 2 million years ago and went through many different stages of evolution branching off into different geni, all of which did not survive to the common day. Prehistoric Earth was arguably a much more diverse place in terms of Human races. Homo sapiens, modern man, appeared approximately 200,000 years ago in Africa. Through diaspora, the race spread out and settled all over what is now modern day Europe. Approximately 10,000-15,000 years ago, Paeloindian Humans crossed the Bering Land Bridge to inhabit North America. All over the world, Humans began to spread to different places and become adapted to different environments. Prehistoric Civilization Records indicate that at least 150,000 years ago, Humanity was able to amass an interstellar empire of considerable size. They were able to achieve a high level of technology and expanded into the Orion Arm where they encountered many races including the enigmatic Forerunners. Humanity existed alongside the Forerunners and many considered the two races equal, although the Forerunners held that they posessed the 'Mantle of Responsibility for All Things', a pseudo-religious appointment that gave them guardianship over the galaxy. Some time in the distant past, Humanity encountered a race of parasitic beings known as the Flood, also known back then as the 'Shaping Sickness'. Through misunderstanding and miscommunication, Humanity was forced to act to destroy a Forerunner colony world to prevent the Flood from spreading. The Forerunners took this as a threat and engaged in a war against the Humans, which pushed them back to their capital world Charum Hakkor . Here, Humanity lost the war, and here, they were punished. The proud empire of Humanity was dismantled by the Forerunners as punishment for their war and many were sent back to their homeworld of Erde-Tyrene (Modern day Earth), though a small percentage of regressed Humans were kept as experiments. Nevertheless, Humanity was catalogued by the Forerunners known as Lifeworkers so they could be reseeded following the activation of the Halo Array. In approximately 100,000 BCE, the Array was fired as a last-ditch attempt to rid the galaxy of what truly controlled the flood - a food source, namely sentient organic beings with a central nervous system. The harmonic pulses sent out by the Installations destroyed any living creature with a complex CNS system; Human, Covenant, Forerunner, every living thing in the galaxy was wiped out. Following this event at an unknown date, civilization was reseeded, revived, restarted. Consequentially, this event caused a gap in the fossil records of many worlds, including Earth, known as the Ross-Zeigler Blip . Post Firing Recovery Sometime after 100,000 BCE, surviving Forerunners or their machines recreated or stimulated growth of Humanity again on Earth as well as native creatures that lived there. Humanity had a second chance to restart their history and become a power yet again. Humans that were originally taken from Earth were returned and some were even artificially grown with the genetic information collected by the Lifeworkers. The Neolothic Period or the 'Stone Age' began at roughly 10,000 years ago where Humans began using stone tools to build and hunt with. This level of advancement continued as man moved past the Stone Age and into the Bronze Age where they began to learn how to forge simple metals and build early civilizations. Following this was the iron age, and then into the Industrial Age where Humans really hit their stride. 18th-20th Century The Industrial Revolution proved to be a massive point of change for mankind. This was a period of productivity that nobody could have forseen before this point in time. Methods of production and industry were at unheard of levels and new technology was resulting from it. Things like medical research, political changes, economic policies, transportation, energy sources, and indeed warfare were evolving from this point in time that could never go back. In the early 19th Century, Humanity was faced with the first conflict of it's time - Global War. In 1914, the Great War erupted across Europe that would involve the Triple Alliance consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy facing off against the Triple Entente which consisted of France, Britain (which included Canada) and Russia. Later on in 1917, the United States would enter the war. The Great War would later be known as World War I. It was thought to be the worst war of all history and that never again partake in such death and destruction. That is, of course, until 1939 when Germany attacked Poland, thus breaking the treaty formed at the end of World War I. For about six years following this, another era of warfare began, but this war saw the rise of new technology, new methods of destruction and energy, but other passive advances as well began. The most notable of advances was the usage of nuclear energy in weaponized form which spawned the Atomic Bomb that decimated Japan in 1945, but other technologies came from this too: Advanced detection methods like radar were perfected during this era, and aerial designs were created. This was also the first era where jet technology was experimented upon in common usage. It also marked the appearance of rockets on the battlefield. This technology in particular would fuel Earth's advances into the space age. In the mid-20th Century, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first Human in space. He would be the first of thousands of Humans to come. Later in 1969, the first men to land on the moon would be Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. For a long time, Michael Collins would be long forgotten until well after the landing. This landing would start mankind's expansion into the solar system. Colonization of Space Colonization of nearby planetary bodies was the first priority to the Earth governments. In the mid 21st Century, Earth began to seed other worlds such was the moon. Colonies originally composed of prefabricated structures evolved into buildings constructed out of Lunar materials. Next came Mars which served as a waystation for future flights. Into the 2100s, Humans colonized the Jovian moons in small colonies. In the 2160s, a war between the Neo-Faschist Friedens and Communist Koslovics threatened to tear the established order of the UN apart. Eventually this conflict was struck down by the UN, but not without three months of battle ranging from ship to ground combat. The UNSC, the current military and colonial force of Humanity was formed in 2163 when the war stretched to the Argyre Planitia on Mars. Prior to this, there was no unified force of Humanity; each nation of Earth controlled their own separate military force and ships. On Mars, this all changed as Humanity united to face its first threat: iteself. In the end on 2170, The UNSC emerged triumphant as the first united force of Humanity. With treaties signed and peace restored, mankind once again turned to the stars. There were many proposed ways to leave the solar system. Many people, such as Dr. Tiberius Drake, who in 2200 proposed a fleet of Sleeper Ships that would send colonists out of the solar system towards potentially habitable worlds. While Drake did not get the fleet he wanted, he recieved two ships over private donations. Drake himself along with two thousand hand-selected passengers left the solar system in 2218. It is not known what became of him. A second brilliant mind named Itsuki Matsumoto thought he could bring two points of space together through a device known as a Jumpgate. His research was very private and it wasn't until hundreds of years after his death that his research was publically known. Dr. Matsumoto had the design of the gate and thought he had worked out a proper principle before he suddenly died of a brain hemhorrage. Foul play wasn't initially suggested. Matsumoto's work was based off of the work of Miguel Alcubierre, but had some minor changes to his idea in that space could move between two points as a conduit. His work seemed lost forever until a young scientist in 2271 named Matthew Mobius found it. Mobius was a student of quantum electrodynamics at the time and was also searching for a way of getting Humanity to the stars. While attending a symposium in Japan, he was able to procure Matsumoto's work. Stunned with it, he believed he could turn it around. His math seemed good, but it was off to Mobius. He believed that with just a bit more tweaking, he could make it work. He presented his findings to his contemporaries. Some of them supported the idea, but others, most notably Tobias Shaw and Wallace Fujikawa dismissed it, calling it fantasy and physically impossible in the way it was designed. Mobius stuck with it though, and in 2289 completed the gate in orbit around the moon. The gate spanned a few kilometers in diameter and hummed with blue energy when activated. Mobius sent things like radio signals and analyzed if they went through the other side. Next he sent probes. Mobius didn't feel that Human test subjects would be right until he was sure. In 2290, Mobius was able to procure no less than ten ships from an ecstatic government with both handpicked individuals and volunteers who met requirements. Upon entering the gate, the ships vanished. Nothing came from the other side and according to telescopes, nothing appeared in the solar system. Horrified that panic would erupt, the government informed civilians thatt he gate would only take the colony ships so far, and that the gate would need to be linked on the other side. In truth, nobody had known where Mobius, nor his Lost Million had gone. Desperate to clear the name of science, Shaw and Fujikawa worked hard to create the Slipspace Drive, which was released a year later. Public skepticism was high, until the scientists provided several public tests and demonstrations of the device. People were interested, and wanted to leave the solar system and it's troubles behind. With the success of Shaw and Fujikawa, Humanity was ready for the stars. The first true faster than light colony ship was the Odyssey which launched in 2362 bound for Alpha Centauri. Within fifty years, mankind colonized over 800 worlds. Some habitable, but most of them not. The latter worlds were used for mining purposes. Mankind had become an interstellar species with it's future secured. But nothing is for certain in life. The Human-Covenant War In 2525, Humanity became aware of a threat that they would have to band together to fight: The Covenant . This year, the alien menace would make themselves known to the fledging race and attacked the Human world of Harvest . A brief battle with the Covenant would prove that they would be far beyond what the Humans could handle. The Covenant made their objective clear with the Glassing of Harvest: the complete and utter annihilation of all Human life on every planet that they have colonized. Their judgement was swift and cruel. Millions of Humans died on Harvest and it would signal the beginning of a long and bloody war leaving many more dead on both sides. Humanity was trapped on all fronts. If they resisted, it only served to fuel the Covenant's war might. They were amused by those they considered vermin, but were confused as well. They themselves wondered why they were fighting the Humans, but their leaders forced them to fight on, saying that Humans were blasphemous. Humans used mixed geurilla tactics. Striking at the Covenant from the ground was their best tactic. The UNSC could combat the aliens best there, but in battle, a victory was followed by ten defeats. However, when Humans did manage to defeat the Covenant in space, morale soared all throughout the fleet. This seemed to be of little good though as the Coevenant steamrolled their way through Human space, glassing worlds as they went. The goal now was not to stop the Covenant, but to slow their advance on Earth through any means necessary. The best way to do that was through a procedure known as the Cole Protocol, a procedure written by Admiral Preston Cole in the early years of the war which had three sections of it. Summarized, they are #Purge all data relating to the location of Earth or any other colony through broad wipe on ships or planets #Scan again to ensure that all data has been deleted. If not, repeat Article 1. #Execute Viral Data Scavengers to delete anything that may have escaped Articles 1 and 2. #If retreating, escape on Jump Vectors not aimed at Earth or any other colony. Randomize these jumps. #In the event of imminent capture by Covenant Forces, All ships MUST self destruct. Violation of Article 5 is considered an act of Treason. The Cole Protocol was extremely effective for a short while. The Covenant forces were thrown off by the UNSC's actions during the war, noting that either the pattern of retreat was "hopelessly random" or "brilliantly conceived". The best weapon though that Humanity could have weilded against the Covenant though were a group of individuals known as Spartans . Spartans were men and women trained since infancy to fight the Covenant forces. Spartans were originally children that were stolen from their parents at the age of six. In 2517, the first group of Spartan II children were brought to one of Humanity's most important military complexes on Reach where they were trained to be the best warriors that Humanity could offer. At the age of 16, Spartans were augmented physically and mentally. While not outfitted with cybernetics, they were given different changes. Their bones were strengthened, their eyes were biochemically modified to allow them to see in the dark, and their reflexes were heightened. On top of that, they were given a wearable weapon, the MJOLNIR Mark V Battle Armor. The Spartans became Humanity's best warriors and struck a blow to the Covenant forces. Originally out of the 300+ candidates, about seventy five were accepted into the program. Of those, only thirty two candidates would become full Spartans. The other forty five candidates would either "wash out" after their augmentations, or would die during the surguries. The creator of the Spartan II program, Doctor Catherine Elizabeth Halsey , was a scientist who saw the weight of sociologist Elias Carver's findings that civilization would tear itself apart unless order was brought to the colonies. Halsey didn't originally create the Spartans to fight aliens, but Humanity itself. After seeing the damage that the Covenant could do, they had to change their targets. Keeping the colonies in line was secondary to keeping Humanity alive. Eventually, Halsey's recruits would obtain several victories between 2525 and the war's end, moreso after they were publically known. Spartans were not invincible though, and many did die during the war. A policy put in place by the UNSC was that no Spartan could ever be allowed to die. To do this, all Spartans who were killed were instead listed as MIA-Missing in Action. This gave the illusion that Spartans were immortal. This also had the effect of making them essentially boogeymen to the Insurrectionists. The Spartans were now about to recieve their real test after the planet Reach fell in August of 2552. The Spartans' home was now in flames, and the Covenant knew how to get to Earth. Desperate to fulfill the Cole Protocol, a UNSC cruiser named the Pillar of Autumn under the command of Captain Jacob Keyes jumped away from the massacre on Reach, only to find the first sign of an alien superweapon. A massive ring ten thousand kilometers in diameter called a Halo was in L1 Lagrange orbit between the gas giant Threshold and its moon Basis . The ring was habitable and was a sign of an alien race called the Forerunners. The Autumns crew was forced to abandon ship following an attack by the Covenant and had no choice but to land on this halo, Alpha Halo. Stranded, the crew began to understand more about the Halo. A large group of crew established a base of operations while they explored. However, as it turned out, the ring had a much more sinister function, the destruction of all life within 25,000 lightyears. The ring was a weapon of last resort to the Forerunners to eliminate another alien menace called the Flood. The surviving crew of the ''Autumn, including a Spartan-II, Master Chief Petty Officer John 117 , snapped to action to destroy the ring. In the fighting however sadly, the Chief ended up one of an exremely small group survivor as a large portion of the UNSC personnel were sacrificed by another officer to stop the spread of the Flood. Captain Keyes was likewise infected by the Flood. Alone with the group, John was forced to find a way home and warn Earth. The Master Chief's efforts weren't in vain, but it appeared that no preperation would get Earth ready for its foes. On October 20th, 2552, Covenant forces arrived in Earth orbit destroying a good portion of the orbital defense grid. Invasion of major cities commenced with UNSC forces countering on every front. The defense of Earth was dismal, as a good portion of the planet's population was killed despite the efforts of the UNSC. Some argue that it was the presence of the remaining Spartan-IIs that stopped more from being killed by the Covenant. In the end, Humanity prevailed in their war with no small part owed to the Sangheili turning against the Covenant after seeing that they were used by their superiors. There was no ascension to Godhood, no Great Journey, only death should the Prophet leaders succeed in their true goals: Activation of the Halo Array. If the Prophets did that, all life in the galaxy would be extinguished. The impromptu alliance succeeded in stopping the Covenant Loyalists and won the war on March 3rd, 2553. The 28-year conflict had ended on a Forerunner installation far outisde our galaxy known as The Ark . The Covenant was broken, and Humanity was safe. In the ensuing fighting though, John-117 was lost in the return, ironically the only Spartan to truly be Missing in Action. With the population of Earth whittled down to 200 million and Humanity's overall population halved, work had to be done to rebuild their worlds and restore what was lost. It would be a long road. Catherine Halsey would be regarded in two lights. For quite a few years she would be recognized as a war criminal that used child soldiers to achieve her goals and was publically said to have died on Reach. Where she truly resided was not known. Years after the event though, Halsey would be regarded as a savior that needed to be a necessary evil to save Humanity. While people wouldn't forget her decisions, many made the decision to forgive. Halsey though would degrade in memory over time. She was not common speech, and her actions were deafened by those of her Spartans. Within a few hundred years, Halsey's name would only be known to a few, yet her Spartans would live on forever in tales, statues, newspaper clippings, videos, and even to the present date, new Spartan projects continue to this day with the participants regarding her as almost a patron saint. Humanity was safe. Now it was time to get back to work. Category:Human Category:Earth Category:Species